Greek official announces 46 new cases of coronavirus

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - Greek Health Ministry representative Sotiris Tsiordas announced Thursday that 46 new coronavirus cases have been reported, raising the country’s total to 464 while death toll has risen to six.

The 70-year-old man who lost his life today was being treated in a hospital, but his health deteriorated, and he lost the battle.

Of those who tested positive, 78 are in hospital, and 16 in critical condition, Tsiordas said.

In a televised address on Thursday, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said a support package of €800 ($850) will be given to those affected by the shut down or have seen a down turn in their revenues, or those who lost their jobs after March 1.

Greece has been included in the European Central Bank's €750 billion emergency scheme.

Mitsotakis also stressed the importance of following the governments’ orders and limit unnecessary movements.

“The coming weeks will be decisive for our country as well -- it's up to us that tough and complicated [weeks] do not turn into nightmarish ones. I ask you, therefore, that we do not tear down what we have built recently.

"In Italy, they ran out of coffins to bury their dead. And, yet in Greece, I see some people exhibit an unjustified complacency. I will not accept this," he added.

Meanwhile, the Greek Tourism Ministry announced it would suspend the operation of hotels to protect its staff. Only three hotels in Athens and Thessaloniki will remain open, and one per capita of each region. The measure is effective as of midnight March 23 till the end of April.

COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to at least 160 countries and territories. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a pandemic.

Out of more than 236,000 confirmed cases, the death toll now exceeds 9,700, and over 84,500 have recovered, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the U.S.

Despite the rising number of cases, most who become infected suffer only mild symptoms and recover.